臺灣開港後洋商的異文化書寫：以英國商人必麒麟為例

A Foreign Merchant's Writing of a Foreign Cultures after Opening of Taiwan's Ports: the Case of British Merchant William Alexander Pickering

1860年臺灣開港後，國際港埠的設立使西方人來臺人數大幅增加，其身份從駐外官僚、士兵、商人、傳教士、博物學家，探險家等，均讓站在東西文化交會第一線的雙方，除利益競逐外，更存在著多重層面的文化衝突與族群矛盾。當漢（Han）、洋（Foreigner）、番（Hoans）均是彼此眼中的「他者」（the other）時，身為文化中介者的西洋通譯、商人又是如何透過自身的文化視角來詮釋過去僅在調查報告或報刊中偶爾出現的異域臺灣？本文即以英商必麒麟（William Alexander Pickering）為例，據其回憶錄《歷險福爾摩沙》（Pioneering in Formosa）中與漢、番交會書寫為中心，討論1860年代開港後，西方人再現臺灣圖像及其背後之意涵，並指出必麒麟在其寫作中，擇取了哪些要素，強調了何種氛圍，透過這些再現，架構出何種企圖與欲望。本文首先耙梳必麒麟之身分與經歷，釐清其文化背景。其次，藉由商業衝突所引發的涉外事件「樟腦事件」（camphor war）為案例，以必麒麟筆下的樟腦戰爭為文本，討論必麒麟透過書寫企圖扮演何種角色，反應出何種自身意識。最後，分析《歷險福爾摩沙》文本，探討必麒麟之誌異書寫架構出何種臺灣圖像。筆者期以早期抵臺的洋商必麒麟為切入點，作為後續分析1860年代在臺西方人的寫作、作家人際網絡，以及19世紀新帝國主義環伺的氛圍中，臺灣在西方人的書寫中是以何種姿態浮上國際舞台。 Since the 1860s, with Taiwan's ports opening up to the world, the establishment of international ports brought a remarkable increase in the number of westerners travelling to Taiwan in all sorts of identities ranging from expatriate officers, seaman, businessmen, missionaries, museologists to explorers. This gave rise to cultural clashes and ethnic conflicts in multiple aspects, in addition to the fight for commercial profits, among those on the frontline of the East-West encounter. As Han (Chinese), foreigners, and Hoans (indigenous peoples) were all considered ''the other'' in each other's eyes, how did Western interpreters, businessmen, or explorers who played the role of cultural intermediaries, interpret the exotic Taiwan that had only been seen occasionally in investigation reports or journals from their own cultural perspectives? Drawing on the memoir Pioneering in Formosa by a British businessman William Alexander Pickering and his writings centered on his encounters with Han and Hoans in the book, this article discusses Westerners'' representation of the image of Taiwan after its opening in the 1860s and the underlying implications. What elements did Pickering pick and what kind of atmosphere did he highlight in his writing? What kind of intention and desire he was trying to express through this representation? First of all, Pickering's identity and experiences were sorted out to clarify his cultural background. Then the ''camphor war'', a diplomatic incident triggered by trade conflicts, was taken as an example for the discussion of what role Pickering was intending to play and what kind of self-awareness was reflected by his writing about the camphor war. Lastly, the text of Pioneering in Formosa was analyzed to discuss what images of Taiwan were constructed through Pickering's bizarre story type of writing. Starting with the study of Pickering who was among the earliest merchants in Taiwan, the author analyzed Westerners'' writings and writers'' social network in the 1860s, and the way in which Taiwan emerged in the international arena, in Westerners'' description, amid the new imperialist ambience in the 19th century?